Roumbanis Cleared Major Hurdle In North Carolina

Any tour-level victory is a huge deal to the winner. Fred Roumbanis' win at the recent Bassmaster American Major was nothing short of a watershed event in his career.

Not only was it his initial triumph at the sport's top echelon, but it came just days before the birth of his first child. And because he's funding the majority of his second season on the Bassmaster Elite Series out of his own pocket, the $250,000 check will ensure that he finishes the year on the black side of the financial ledger.

The native Californian and recent Oklahoma immigrant caught 28-04 over the first 2 days at North Carolina's High Rock Lake to make the Top 12, and then bagged 21-14 over the final 2 at tiny Lake Townsend to win by more than 4 1/2 pounds. The theme of his week was quality over quantity – he didn't catch a single limit, but just four of his 15 weigh-in fish were under 3 pounds.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Unlike many in the 51-angler American field, Roumbanis had a solid practice. The lake was off during the 3 official pre-fish days, and dock talk was that it wouldn't take more than 8 or 9 pounds a day to make the Top 12.

He set his sights on deeper, post-spawn fish and focused on river ledges and anyplace that featured rock or pea gravel, along with a significant drop from about 12 to 20 feet.

"I was bouncing a football jig and cranking it up real fast, and I could catch a quick limit and some big fish doing that," he said. "But when the tournament started, that didn't work."

The warm, sunny, slick conditions that were prevalent during practice gave way to cooler temperatures, clouds and a moderate breeze as a cold front moved in overnight prior to day 1. That seemed to kick-start the bite, and the average first-day bag turned out to be a lot better than expected.

The new conditions actually hurt Roumbanis, but he made the right adjustment quickly enough.

Days 1 and 2

> Day 1: 4, 11-09
> Day 2: 4, 16-11 (8, 28-04)

Day 1 got off to a sluggish start for Roumbanis, but he eventually got around to fishing a spot where he'd caught a 4-pounder in practice. His jig bite wasn't happening in that locale either, so he decided to try a 7-inch Roboworm on a shakey-head rig.

"I wanted a little bit bigger profile since I was fishing a little deeper," he said. "And I've had a lot of good success with Robos in the past."

Within 10 minutes, he had a 4-pounder and two 3s in the livewell. He added one more keeper later, and his 11-09 sack put him in 30th place.

He went back to the area that had produced the three good fish first thing on day 2, but didn't catch a keeper. His well was still empty at noon when he decided follow a creek channel farther into a cove and came across a more substantial underwater bluff.

He caught a 3-pounder, which was followed by his biggest bite of the tournament – a 6 1/2. Then he went to the other side of the channel and linked up with a 5 and a 2 1/2.

Again, he was one fish shy of a limit when he returned to the launch. But his 16-11 bag moved him up 20 places, and he made the Top 12 cut with two spots to spare.

Days 3 and 4

> Day 3: 3, 14-10
> Day 4: 4, 7-04 (7, 21-14)

Roumbanis grabbed the tournament by the neck on day 3 when he caught the three biggest fish of the day at Townsend and established a lead of more than 5 1/2 pounds. The anglers fished a six-hole rotation on the 1,500-acre municipal lake, and he caught all three hawgs out of hole No. 1.

Hole selection was based on the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings, and Roumbanis, who's 7th on the list, had second pick behind No. 4 Ish Monroe.

He opted for hole 6 because parts of it were adjacent to a golf course, and he'd spent much of the offseason fishing course ponds in Northern California.

He got a couple of "bluegill bites" in 6 before moving on to hole 1. After throwing a dropshot and a shakey-head on some riprap and flipping some trees and laydowns, to no avail, he spotted a retaining wall that looked appealing.

On his first cast with a 4-inch Roboworm on a dropshot rig, he caught a 5-pounder. It was followed by a 4-pounder about 5 minutes later.

"What I didn't know was that I was catching spawners," he said. "They were tough to see in the lowlight conditions."

He went through the rest of the course without a keeper bite, then returned to the wall during "happy hour" (the final 80 minutes of the day, during which anglers could fish wherever they chose). When he got there, he found John Murray working on a spawner.

He went to the other side of the wall and spotted what he thought was a 3-pounder locked onto a bed. He didn't have any sight-fishing gear with him, but improvised by removing the blade from an EZ Bite swim jig. The skirt had white and yellow strands, with a little bit of blue mixed in.

On his second cast, the fish bit. And when it came to the surface and shook its head, he realized it was roughly twice the size he'd estimated.

The 6-03 brute gave him a 14-10 bag and a 5-10 advantage, and left him with little work to do on the final day.

His goal for day 4 was to catch two keepers, and he got one more than that. He started in hole 6 again and caught a 3-pounder right away off a deepwater point.

He blanked in hole 1, but caught two keepers off of riprap in No. 2. As it turned out, he didn't need either of them.

Winning Gear Notes

> Shakey-head gear: 7' medium-heavy Okuma Guide Select rod, Okuma VS 200 casting reel, 12-pound P-Line fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Reaction Innovations Screwed Up jighead, 7-inch Roboworm (oxblood).

> Dropshot gear: 7' medium-heavy Okuma Guide Select spinning rod, Okuma VS spinning reel, 6-pound P-Line fluorocarbon, 3/8-pound Bass Pro Shops dropshot weight, No. 2 Gamakatsu circle or No. 1 Roboworm ReBarb hook, 4-inch Roboworm (margarita mutilator).

> His hook was placed about 10 inches up the line on the dropshot rig.

> He used the same gear as with the shakey-head to catch his lone sight-fish with the modified swim jig.

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Keeping an open mind and staying relaxed. It was a no-entry-fee event and there were no (AOY) points on the line, so I just went out and fished."

> Performance edge – "The Okuma spinning reel. I could trust the drag and take my time playing the fish on that light line."

Notable

> Roumbanis said he had a communion with nature on the final day that was pleasant – for the most part. "When we were taking off, the (ESPN) helicopter was above me and there was a flock of six or eight geese between my boat and the helicopter, flying along at the same speed we were going," he said. "It was like they were there to wish me luck. Then after I'd been fishing for awhile, a giant snapping turtle came up and sat next to the boat for about 10 minutes. Then a crappie came swimming up to the surface, and when I put my hand in the water, it swam right into my palm, but it took off when I tried to grab it. Then a snake swam toward the boat, and then turned around and swam away. I don't know anything about snakes and they creep me out, but that one had a pointy head and it looked poisonous."

> His wife, Julie, has an appointment with their doctor today, and it's expected that labor will be induced. His son's name will be Jackson.

> BassFan published an article last month describing the changes that Roumbanis' life has undergone since last season. To read it, click here.